New Mexico Attorney General Gary King, one of five Democrats running for governor, made no attempt to be artful with his language during a speech Saturday.
He likened Republican Gov. Susana Martinez to an Old West snake-oil salesman and said she has failed in her job.
“Governor, our economy sucks,” King told about 110 fellow Democrats at the Santa Fe County pre-primary convention. “Governor, our education system sucks. … We need a governor who will stand up and say it sucks to be 50th as a place to raise kids.”
King, who holds a law degree and doctorate in organic chemistry, said in an interview afterward that his street vernacular was appropriate because the ordinary person would choose the same word when talking about New Mexico’s decline under Martinez.
He said his negative comments about schools were not a knock on teachers or principals, but on the Martinez administration’s practice of teaching to tests instead of a commitment to helping kids learn.
Martinez, seeking re-election this year, has said her administration has cut business taxes, has stimulated job growth — notably in Santa Teresa — and is fighting for reforms to make public schools better.
The other Democrats who hope to unseat Martinez were equally critical of her and her claims during the convention. But none of the four — Lawrence Rael, Alan Webber and state Sens. Howie Morales and Linda Lopez — gave a speech as salty as King’s.
Lopez, of Albuquerque, said she would be best suited to face Martinez in the November general election.
“This Hispana is not afraid of that Hispana,” Lopez said, emphasizing she is the only woman in the Democratic field.
Lopez asked what Martinez has promised and what she had done for New Mexico since taking office in 2011. The partisan crowd shouted back remarks about deficiencies in jobs, education funding and openness in government.
Has she delivered on any of her promises? Lopez asked. Answering her own question, she said, “No, not even an inkling.”
Webber, an author and businessman, settled in Santa Fe after launching and then selling Fast Company magazine. He said Martinez is out of touch with the state she is leading.
Webber said he listened to Martinez’s State of the State speech last week and came away with one thought: “She described a place that was a great place to live, it just didn’t happen to be New Mexico.”
For 40 years, Webber said, New Mexico was in the top third of the states in job creation. Now the state is “48th in new job creation and 50th in new job growth,” he said, statistics at odds with Martinez’s description of progress.
Webber ran the Harvard Business Review for 10 years and launched his magazine in 1995.
“We changed business in America with that magazine, and we can do it right here in New Mexico,” he said.
Morales, of Silver City, challenged Martinez’s claims about restoring state government to solid financial footing.
Everyone who has had a basic finance course knows that New Mexico has never had a budget deficit, he said. Yet, he said, Martinez continued as recently as last week to say that she worked to close “the largest structural deficit in state history.”
The arduous legislative work to tighten the budget occurred in 2009, just after the recession began, Morales said. Martinez was a district attorney in Las Cruces then. Morales was a member of the state Senate Finance Committee that he said helped make the painful but necessary cuts in spending.
Morales also criticized Martinez for a lack of humanity. One example, he said, was that she did not mention the late state Rep. Stephen Easley, D-Eldorado, in her State of the State speech.
Morales said the state needs a governor who can bring people together, not splinter them into groups. He said myths about progress fill the Martinez administration, but the biggest myth of all is that Martinez cannot be defeated.
“We have a governor right now who is more interested in her approval rating than the state’s improvement rating,” Morales said.
Rael also said Martinez made promises but has not kept them.
“This governor has no plan,” Rael said. “I’m not a politician, my friends. I’m a public servant.”
His government jobs have included positions with the city of Albuquerque, the Mid-Region Council of Governments, which manages the Rail Runner Express, and most recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
He said his style is to roll up his sleeves and work for progress. He pointed to the Rail Runner transit line between Belen and Santa Fe as an example of his work in implementing a public project.
Rael said Martinez remains a prosecutor at heart, even creating battlegrounds in schools.
“The war on education will end when Lawrence Rael becomes governor,” he said.
Danny Diaz, a spokesman for Martinez's campaign, criticized the Democratic field as a whole.
"With little positive to say about themselves and devoid of meaningful records demonstrating success, the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor are already resorting to false attacks and finger pointing," he said. "New Mexicans expect to hear candidates for the highest office in the state articulate a forward-looking vision and demonstrate strong leadership, both of which Governor Martinez has done since being elected and will continue to do as she works to create more jobs and reform education so every child can pursue their dreams."
Most of the five Democrats predicted victory for himself or herself in the June primary election. Webber said King, the son of a three-term governor, is the favorite for now, based on name recognition.
Contact Milan Simonich at 986-3080 or msimonich@sfnewmexican.com. Follow his Ringside Seat blog on our website, www.santafenewmexican.com.
